Pablo Aimar

Pablo César Aimar Giordano (Río Cuarto, Córdoba, November 3, 1979) is an Argentine former soccer player and coach. He is currently part of the coaching staff of the senior team of the same country.

Enganche, technically gifted, with a great repertoire of skills and an eye for goal, after beginning his professional career at River Plate in 1996, he moved to LaLiga, where he starred in a total of 215 games and 32 goals against throughout eight seasons with Valencia and Real Zaragoza between 2001 and 2008. After his Spanish experience, he played five seasons at Benfica, winning a total of nine European titles. In 2014 he played eight games with Johor Darul Takzim FC from Malaysia and returned to River. Due to an injury, he was only able to play a few minutes against Rosario Central, on May 31, 2015, and twenty more in the Argentine Cup against Liniers. At the age of 38, on January 23, 2018, he officially said goodbye to activity in his original team, Estudiantes de Río Cuarto, playing 50 minutes against Sportivo Belgrano, in the first round of the 2017 Copa Argentina. 18.

A regular member of the Argentine national team, he participated in 52 games with the national team over ten years and represented Argentine soccer in two editions of the World Cup and the Copa América (runner-up in 2007), as well as in a Confederations Cup, in which he was also runner-up with the Argentine team in 2005. In 2022 he won the Soccer World Cup with the Argentine team, as a technical assistant.

Trajectory

River Plate

He started out as a semi-professional with his hometown club, Estudiantes de Río Cuarto. He later tried out at River Plate and, although they accepted him, his father decided that it was still too early to play soccer at that level and he returned to Río Cuarto with his family. Soon after, Daniel Passarella would call his father to ask him to return Pablo and that was how he officially entered the lower divisions of millionaires in mid-1996. There he made his debut in the First Division on August 1996, in a team full of stars that, months before, had won the Copa Libertadores and the following year would win the Clausura and the Apertura in 1997. He scored his first goal on February 20, 1998, against Rosario Central. In his first Apertura tournament he scored four goals.

Being a great assistant, creative and fast, Aimar was a vital piece in the Opening Tournament obtained by River Plate in 1999, forming a great partnership with Saviola, Juan Pablo Ángel and Ariel Ortega later (called at that time Fantastic Four). In the Closing Tournament of 2000, already under the technical direction of Tolo Gallego, he would obtain the two-time championship as a figure and scoring a goal on the day of the consecration against Ferro Carril Oeste at the José Amalfitani Stadium. In the following tournament (Apertura 2000) he formed a forward that is well remembered for his good game and his brilliance along with Ariel Ortega.

Valencia

Valencia went ahead of other European teams to take over the services of the Argentine player in January 2001. Aimar had arrived at Mestalla for 24 million euros and a seven-year contract. The trust placed in him, as he led the Ché team to the league title in the 2001/02 campaign.

After scoring eight goals in 31 games in the 2002/03 season, the following campaign was less fruitful on a personal and collective level, and he saw more cards (five) than the goals he scored (four). However, he played a good part of the season in which Valencia Club de Fútbol was proclaimed champion of the First Division and the UEFA Cup, after defeating Olympique de Marseille 2-0 in Gothenburg.

The last two seasons of Pablo Aimar in Valencia were characterized by continuous injuries that did not allow him to maintain a regularity in his game. He did not find his place with Claudio Ranieri and, although he did enjoy ownership with Quique Sánchez Flores, his performance was not as expected. However, that season he won the Efe Award for the best Latin American player. Since his contract ended in 2007, Valencia Club de Fútbol made the difficult decision of selling him to Real Zaragoza during the summer of 2006. His departure was not understood by a large part of the fans, who saw him as a symbol of one of the most glorious stages of the club, with two leagues, a UEFA Cup and a European Super Cup.

Their first child was born in October 2004 in Valencia. That same year, in a match against Ecuador for the World Cup qualifiers, Aimar felt severe pain from solitary groin pain, which she would suffer for several years and in the end would strongly affect her career. In addition to health problems, under the command of Claudio Ranieri, he also began to have notable football problems, for which Pablo Aimar finally left the Valencian institution.

Zaragoza

In the summer of 2006, he signed for Real Zaragoza, after a disbursement of 11 million euros by the Aragonese entity, becoming one of the most expensive signings in the club's history and thus joining a team full of compatriots

In his first year at Real Zaragoza he scored 4 goals and provided 6 assists. In his second season he finished with 3 assists and no goals, but he was injured for half of it and Real Zaragoza was relegated to the Second Division of Spain.

In April 2007 he was granted Spanish nationality by residence.

SL Benfica

Aimar playing a ball in the Benfica.

Aimar playing for the Benfica in 2012.

Since Real Zaragoza left the top flight, Aimar decided to leave the team and look for new paths. He was transferred to SL Benfica of Portugal by Rui Costa, sports director of the Lisbon team, for an amount close to 6.5 million euros.

In the early days of 2008, because the player had only been able to play half the league minutes in Portugal with a mediocre performance partly due to injuries, SL Benfica asked Real Zaragoza for explanations, even threatening with the complaint before the sports committees alleging an alleged concealment of data in the medical reports that the Maño team had delivered to the Lisbon club. However, as the weeks went by, Aimar started playing games and during the second part of the season he raised his level a bit, achieving a goal in the cup, another in the league and numerous assists including a 40-meter rabona pass. The Argentine midfielder participated in 179 official matches with the Sport Lisboa e Benfica shirt and scored 17 goals. During his time at Benfica, Aimar won one League (2010) and four League Cups (Taça da Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12). In 2011 he received recognition as the best player of Benfica of that season. He announced his retirement from the club on June 6, 2013.

Johor Darul Takzim

On September 14, in Malaysia, at the Johor Football Club facilities, the little clown (nickname given to him by his father, a former Belgrano player nicknamed el payo) He presented himself as the brand new reinforcement that the club needed, in which he coincided with Luciano Figueroa (another Argentine player, also joined the club on 5/12). He signed a two-year contract with an option for one more. On April 21, 2014, the president himself confirmed the player's withdrawal due to his irregular performance, largely to blame for the injuries.

River Plate

On December 19, 2014, it was confirmed that he would participate in the pre-season with River Plate in 2015 starting on January 4. The player came on a free transfer from Johor Darul Takzim FC. On February 12, 2015, he underwent surgery on his right ankle.

His return occurred on the fourteenth date of the First Division Championship, in the victory of his team 2-0 against Rosario Central, entering after 75 minutes to replace Leonardo Pisculichi. However, that would be the only game he would play that season, as he never found his physical level.

On July 15, 2015, after not being called up for the Copa Libertadores and not feeling well physically, he decided to retire professionally from soccer.

Río Cuarto students

On January 23, 2018, he played 50 minutes of the second leg match for the Initial Round of the 2018 Copa Argentina in which "El Celeste" drew 0-0 against Sportivo Belgrano from San Francisco.

Clubs

As a player

Club	Country	Year
River Plate	Argentina	1996 - 2000
Valencia	SpainSpain	2001 - 2006
Real Zaragoza		2006 - 2008
Benfica	Portugal	2008 - 2013
Johor Darul Takzim	MalaysiaMalaysia	2013 - 2014
River Plate	Argentina	2015
Students (RC)		2018

As a coach

He began as a field assistant in the lower divisions of the Argentine National Team. The coaching staff, led by Lionel Scaloni, managed to qualify as champion with the Under-20 National Team in the 2018 L'Alcudia tournament after beating Russia 2-1 (goals by Facundo Colidio and Alan Marinelli, the latter in extra time).

Due to the good result, they prepared as interim coaches the friendlies of the Senior National Team before the 2019 Copa América. Later, they were confirmed in their position until said competition.

After reaching the semifinals of the continental tournament, the coaching staff was confirmed by the Argentine Football Association until Qatar 2022.

Finally, in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he managed as a coach together with Scaloni to lift the World Cup.

Summary statistics as an assistant

Updated as of July 10, 2021.

Equipment	Country	From	Till	History
				PJ	PG	PE	P	GF	GC	Dif.	Effect.
Sub-20 selection	Argentina	9 July 2018	August 9, 2018	6	4	1	1	11	3	+8	72.23%
Argentina	Argentina	10 August 2018	News	34	20	10	4	61	24	+37	68.62%
Total				40	24	11	5	72	27	+45	69.17%

National team

He came to prominence at the 1997 Youth Soccer World Cup in Malaysia, though he definitely came to public attention on the day of his senior team debut when he scored against Liechtenstein in a World Cup warm-up match. FIFA in 2002. During his time in Argentina's youth teams, he was the U-20 world champion along with players like Leo Franco, Juan Román Riquelme and Esteban Cambiasso.

Participations in World Cups

World	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties	Goles
World Cup 2002	South Korea and Japan	First phase	3	0
World Cup 2006	Germany	Final rooms	3	0

Participations in Confederations Cups

Cup	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties	Part. holder	Goles
Confederations Cup 2005	Germany	Subfield	4	0	1

Participations in Copa América

Cup	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties	Goles
Copa America 1999	Paraguay Paraguay	Final rooms	0	0
Copa América 2007	Venezuela Venezuela	Subfield	5	1

U20 World Cup

Cup	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties	Part. holder	Goles
1997 Youth World Cup	MalaysiaMalaysia	Champion	6	5	1

South American Sub-20

Cup	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties	Part. holder	Goles
South American Sub-20 1997	ChileChile	Champion	7	5	4
South American Sub-20 1999	Argentina	Champion	8	5	2

U17 World Cup

Cup	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties	Part. holder	Goles
1995 Youth World Cup	EcuadorEcuador	Semifinal	6	6	2

Statistics

	Competition
		PJ	G	A
Selection of Argentina	Friendly	16	2	4
	Elimination	21	4	1
	South American	15	6	5
	Copa America	5	1	0
	World	18	3	2
	Confederations Cup	4	1	0
	Total	79	17	12

Goals

International goals
Argentina Absolute
#	Date	Place	Rival	Partial result	Final outcome	Competition
1.	16 August 2000	Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina	PARParaguay	1-1	1-1	South American Eliminators 2002
2.	27 March 2002	Stade des Charmilles, Geneva, SwitzerlandSwitzerland	CMRCameroon	2-1	2-2	Friendly
3.	30 April 2003	Stadium June 11, Tripoli, Libya	LBYLibya	3-1	3-1	Friendly
4.	6 September 2003	Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina	CHIChile	2-	2-2	South American elimination 2006
5.	9 September 2003	Olympic Stadium, Caracas, Venezuela Venezuela	VENVenezuela	1-	3–0	South American elimination 2006
6.	15 November 2003	Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina	BOLBolivia	3-	3–0	South American elimination 2006
7.	29 June 2005	Waldstadion, Frankfurt, GermanyGermany	BRABrazil	1-4	1-4	Confederations Cup 2005
8.	28 June 2007	Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo, Venezuela Venezuela	USAUnited States	3-1	4-1	Copa América 2007
Argentina Sub-20
#	Date	Place	Rival	Partial result	Final outcome	Competition
1.	17 January 1997	Stadium La Portada, La Serena, ChileChile	PARParaguay	2-	5-2	South American Sub-20 1997
2.	19 January 1997	Estadio Francisco Rumoroso, Coquimbo, ChileChile	COLColombia	1-1	1-1	South American Sub-20 1997
3.	22 January 1997	Stadium La Portada, La Serena, ChileChile	BOLBolivia	1-	2–0	South American Sub-20 1997
4.	27 January 1997	Stadium La Portada, La Serena, ChileChile	VENVenezuela	2-	3–0	South American Sub-20 1997
5.	26 June 1997	Tan Sri Dato Hj Hassan Yunos, Johor Bahru, MalaysiaMalaysia	ENGEngland	2-	2-1	1997 Youth Soccer World Cup
6.	5 January 1999	Estadio José María Minella, Mar del Plata, Argentina	VENVenezuela	4-1	4-1	South American Sub-20 1999
7.	11 January 1999	Estadio José María Minella, Mar del Plata, Argentina	PERPeru	1-	2-0	South American Sub-20 1999
Argentina Sub-17
#	Date	Place	Rival	Partial result	Final outcome	Competition
1.	9 August 1995	Estadio Alejandro S. Aguilar, Cuenca, EcuadorEcuador	GuineaGuinea	1-	2–0	1995 Football Cup Sub-17
2.	13 August 1995	Estadio Isidro Romero Carbo, Guayaquil, EcuadorEcuador	ECUEcuador	2-	3-1	1995 Football Cup Sub-17

Style of Play

Aimar was part of a new generation of hooks that emerged after the withdrawal of Diego Maradona in the late 1990s.

An elegant striker, technically gifted and creative, Aimar was a right-footed player with a wide range of skills and a nose for goal. He played in a free role as a midfielder, where he could make the most of his dribbling skills, passing and creating chances for his teammates. Besides that, he was a specialist in set pieces. His emergence in the River Plate team at the end of the 90s led him to have a sports rivalry in the media against Juan Román Riquelme, who served as the coach for Boca Juniors. While Riquelme was a more static and organizing player, Aimar was a frenetic, electric dribbler who boasted impressive acceleration that helped him dribble past several players in a match. race towards the rival goal. Despite his small size and weak physical build, he had great agility that led him to be able to get away from imposing rival defenders several times, even aesthetically, through pipes and feints. His playing style led him to have comparisons with Diego Maradona in his youth.

Due to his talent and extravagance with the ball, he was dubbed El Payaso and El Mago by various media outlets during his career. In 2002, Lionel Messi stated that Aimar was one of his biggest influences as a footballer. In addition to his footballing qualities, Aimar was also acclaimed for his leadership; however, he was never able to fully exploit his talent due to the constant injuries he suffered during his career.

Statistics

Clubs

• Updated to end of sports career.

Club	Div.	Season	League			Cups National(1)			Tournaments International(2)			Total			Media Shotgun(3)
			Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.
River Plate Argentina
	1. a	1996	1	0	0	-			-			1	0	0	0.00
		1996-97	-			-			-			0	0	0	0.00
		1997-98	16	4	3	-			7	2	4	23	6	7	0.26
		1998-99	18	2	2	-			9	1	2	27	3	4	0.14
		1999-00	33	13	8	-			8	3	2	41	16	10	0.35
		2000	15	4	3	-			5	1	2	20	5	5	0.20
		2015	1	0	0	1	0	0	-			2	0	0	0.00
	Total club		84	23	16	1	0	0	29	7	10	114	30	26	0.25
Valencia CF SpainSpain
	1. a	2001	10	2	3	-			8	0	2	18	2	5	0.11
		2001-02	33	4	7	1	0	0	6	2	3	40	6	10	0.15
		2002-03	31	8	2	4	0	0	11	3	5	46	11	7	0.24
		2003-04	25	4	9	4	0	0	8	0	1	37	4	10	0.11
		2004-05	31	4	10	2	0	0	6	2	0	39	6	10	0.15
		2005-06	32	5	8	2	0	0	1	0	0	35	5	8	0.14
	Total club		162	27	39	14	0	0	40	7	11	216	34	50	0.16
Real Zaragoza SpainSpain
	1. a	2006-07	31	5	8	1	0	1	-			32	5	9	0.15
		2007-08	22	0	3	2	0	0	1	0	0	25	0	3	0.00
	Total club		53	5	11	3	0	1	1	0	0	57	5	12	0.08
SL Benfica Portugal
	1. a	2008-09	22	1	5	6	1	2	1	0	0	29	2	7	0.07
		2009-10	25	4	11	5	0	0	11	1	2	41	5	13	0.12
		2010-11	23	5	6	11	1	0	12	1	3	46	7	9	0.15
		2011-12	24	2	9	6	0	0	12	1	3	42	3	12	0.07
		2012-13	13	0	3	5	0	0	3	0	0	21	0	3	0.00
	Total club		107	12	34	32	2	2	39	3	8	179	17	44	0.10
Johor Darul Takzim MalaysiaMalaysia
	1. a	2014	8	2	2	-			-			8	2	2	0.25
	Total club		8	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	2	2	0.25
RC students Argentina	3. a	2018	-			1	0	0	-			1	0	0	0.00
	Total club		0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
Total career			414	69	97	51	2	3	109	17	30	574	88	130	0.15
(1) The national cups refer to the Copa del Rey, Taça da Liga, Supercopa de Portugal and Copa Argentina. (2) The international cups refer to the Champions League, Europa League, European Super Cup, Copa Libertadores, Intertototo Cup, Mercosur Cup and South American Super Cup. (3) Not included data from friendly parties or lower categories.

Selection

Selection	Season	Friendly			South America(1)			World(2)			Total			Average score
		Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.
Sub-17 Argentina	1995	-			6	2	2	6	2	1	12	4	3	0.33
	Total	0	0	0	6	2	2	6	2	1	12	4	3	0.33
Sub-20 Argentina	1997	-			7	4	3	6	1	1	13	5	4	0.38
	1999	-			8	2	2	-			8	2	2	0.25
	Total	0	0	0	15	6	5	6	1	1	21	7	6	0.33
Sub-22 Argentina	1996	2	0	0	-			-			2	0	0	0.00
	Total	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0.00
Sub-23 Argentina	2000	-			7	0	3	-			7	0	3	0.00
	Total	0	0	0	7	0	3	0	0	0	7	0	3	0.00
Adult Argentina	1999	2	0	0	0	0	0	-			2	0	0	0.00
	2000	-			5	1	0	-			5	1	0	0.20
	2001	-			7	0	0	-			7	0	0	0.00
	2002	3	1	1	-			3	0	0	6	1	1	0.17
	2003	5	1	2	4	3	0	-			9	4	2	0.44
	2004	-			2	0	0	-			2	0	0	0.00
	2005	-			2	0	0	4	1	0	6	1	0	0.17
	2006	3	0	1	-			3	0	0	6	0	1	0.00
	2007	2	0	0	5	1	0	-			7	1	0	0.14
	2008	-			-			-			0	0	0	0.00
	2009	1	0	0	1	0	1	-			2	0	1	0.00
	Total	16	2	4	26	5	1	10	1	0	52	8	5	0.15
Total career		18	2	4	54	13	11	22	4	2	94	19	17	0.22
(1) Includes Copa América (2004) and Classificatorias Sudamericanas (2003-05). (2) In case of Olympic selection, it includes data from the Olympic Games (2004)

Statistical summary

Honours of Prizes

As a player

National Championships

Title	Club	Country	Year
Opening Tour	River Plate	Argentina	1996
Closing Tour			1997
Opening Tour			1997
Opening Tour			1999
Closing Tour			2000
First Division of Spain	Valencia CF	SpainSpain	2001/02
First Division of Spain			2003/04
League Cup	SL Benfica	Portugal	2008/09
League Cup			2009/10
Primeira League			2009/10
League Cup			2010/11
League Cup			2011/12
Superlight of Malaysia	Johor Darul Takzim	MalaysiaMalaysia	2014

International Championships

Title	Equipment	Headquarters	Year
South American Sub-20	Argentina	ChileChile	1997
World Cup Soccer Sub-20		MalaysiaMalaysia	1997
South American Super Cup	River Plate	Buenos Aires	1997
South American Sub-20	Argentina	Argentina	1999
UEFA Cup	Valencia CF	Gothenburg	2003/04
European Super Cup		MonacoMonaco	2004

Individual awards

As a coach

International Championships

Title	Club	Headquarters	Year
South American Sub-17	Argentina sub-17	Peru Peru	2019

As a technical assistant

International Championships

Title	Club	Headquarters	Year
Copa America	Selection of Argentina	BrazilBrazil	2021
FIFA World Cup	Selection of Argentina	QatarQatar	2022

Filmography

He was interviewed for the documentary film released in 2019 River, the greatest ever that tells the history of the club.